


Use A Wish Right Now

by protectmikasamuels2017



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, WandaVision (TV), X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Background Relationships, F/M, Gen, Jealousy, M/M, Mind Manipulation, Sibling Bonding, X-men - Freeform, sweet dreams are made of these
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 21:53:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29723766
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/protectmikasamuels2017/pseuds/protectmikasamuels2017
Summary: 'He wasn’t Pietro.Well, he was Pietro per say, he was a Pietro.'While in Westview, Wanda gets to know her newly returned brother while dealing with unexpected challenges, including a threat to being able to keep him here with her.
Relationships: Billy Kaplan & Pietro Maximoff & Tommy Shepherd, Pietro Maximoff & Wanda Maximoff, Pietro Maximoff/Alex Summers, Wanda Maximoff/Vision
Comments: 7
Kudos: 266





	Use A Wish Right Now

**Author's Note:**

> Ok, this follows canon, up until episode 6. I had started writing it after the episode 5 reveal but between college and work demands I only got it finished now.

He wasn’t Pietro.

Well, he was Pietro per say, he was _a_ Pietro. But the Pietro who had started life beside her in their mother’s womb, the Pietro who had been in nearly all of her memories, the Pietro who had been by her side throughout it all until Ultron had taken him away from her . . . that Pietro was gone.

But this, this person was still _Pietro_. Stranger would be the wrong term to use for him even though she has never met him before now in her life. After all, the level of kinship that she feels with this Pietro, how much her soul connects with his, doesn’t fit the word. Stranger implies that he doesn’t belong here in her perfect safe world and remarkably at the same time he both does and doesn’t. He’s an enigma. She doesn’t know what word exactly to best use to describe him, but stranger is not it.

And that is what was throwing her. Because he is definitely not her twin. Her Pietro was taller, scrawner. Her older brother had always wanted to grow a beard but had never really made it past the stubble. He was sarcastic, but it could have a cruel edge to it. 

This Pietro on the other hand was around her height, was wider in the shoulders and softer to hug. He was clean-shaven as well and probably couldn't even get stubble to grow if his life depended on it. He was sarcastic too, but his sarcasm she knew already would rarely have a cruel razor sharp edge meant to hurt.

The comments he had made about Vision being a popsicle and a toaster though . . . that was something that both her Pietros had in common. It was such a small thing that was unexpectedly one of her biggest comforts.

Physically her new Pietro was nothing like her old Pietro, yet at the same time their souls ‘clicked’. A feeling that she only ever had with Pietro, she hadn't even experienced it with Vision. She had supposed that it must be a twin thing. It was a connection, a feeling, something that she had always had with her brother even before they had gotten their powers. A connection that she had felt die when she had been fighting Ultron and his minions and she had known in that instant that her other half was gone. She had heart-brokenly accepted back then that she’ll never have that feeling again, yet here it was with him, her new Pietro.

He was nothing like the old, not really, but she could fix that. And what she couldn’t fix, she’ll adapt too.

She finally had it all. Her husband, her children, her brother. All of them together safe where nobody could hurt them. She wouldn’t let anyone hurt them. Finally her life was completely perfect.

She deserved a little happiness after what she’s been through after all, didn’t she?

X

Pietro’s only been here a short while but it already feels like he’s always been here. A wound that she didn’t even know she had was healing now. A pain that she had been forced to become accustomed to was fading.

He was still sleeping on their couch for now, but she had plans to move the boys in together to share a room so Pietro could have his own. They wouldn’t mind (much, if they were teenagers then she would have had more of a fight on her hands) or she could just add a room onto the house so everyone could have their own. It’s not like she couldn’t after all. But they did also have a basement. And an attic. Plenty of options to choose from.

Still plenty of time to decide though. No one was going anywhere after all. Quite the opposite.

Billy and Tommy adore getting to have their uncle here and that they get to bond with him. He’s not like their parents who have to enforce bedtimes and make sure that they eat their vegetables and do their homework. He gets to be the good guy who’ll help them play pranks on the neighbours, and sneak them candy when mum and dad aren’t looking. And with his speed and all the cool tricks that he can do with it, ( _and he’s so much faster than what she can remember_ ) make him the instant favourite adult.

_He’s so good with children, was he always this good?_

Vision and Pietro are cordial mostly. She had expected it really if she was being honest with herself. For all that she would love for her husband and her brother to be close friends, they’re unfortunately just too different. She knows that opposites attract and all that, but Vision’s proper Britishness and Pietro’s wildness and ‘devil-may-care’ attitude keep them at arm's length for now. But she knew that if they were given the time to bond and understand each other then they’ll end up becoming closer.

She also knows that Vision is slightly jealous of how quickly and easily Pietro’s formed a bond with the boys and how much the boys adore him. She knows that Vision loves their sons with everything in him and that their boys love him back, but Vision’s nature makes it difficult for him to bond with their children over their interests. It also doesn’t help that Vision’s interests of crosswords and the proper technique of making tea doesn’t exactly interest ten-year old boys. Not like Pietro’s fun antics and willingness to play videogames with them all hours whether day or night does.

Agnes in a move that she didn’t see coming is all too delighted by Pietro's arrival. Too delighted. There are definitely times when some of her comments have come across as far too risqué for comfort. Doesn’t Agnes have a husband? Ralph isn’t it? And even if she didn’t, her neighbour is far too old for her brother. No, that is not going to be a canon couple here.

Her reality, her rules. She’ll find someone perfect for her brother.

Eventually. Right now, she didn’t want his attention split between a partner and his family. 

X

His memories are different.

Their memories aren’t the same. And she didn’t mean as in ‘they remember a certain event differently’, but as in ‘completely different memories, completely different experiences’.

She knew it had to be, but it still _aches_.

She had resisted the temptation to know for certain for the first few days after Pietro’s arrival, but on the fourth day, after everyone in both her home and the rest of Westview were fast asleep; all dreaming nice things, no nightmares to plague them like they once plagued her; she caved. So careful not to wake Vision from his own version of sleep, she crept downstairs to where her brother was still sleeping on the couch and did a careful examination of all of Pietro’s memories. From when he first arrived at her home, right back to the very first ones his mind could retain. And afterwards she sat down on the floor, her back against the arm of the sofa, her brother’s sleeping face close by hers, as she pondered what to do.

His arrival to her haven was unexpected, but not unwelcome. Especially now that she knows that he wasn’t sent here by _those._ It’s possible judging by his memories that . . . she brought him here. How, she doesn’t know, but her own powers and the true extent of her capabilities were often a mystery to her even now.

But with different memories to hers it will be harder to reminisce on poignant childhood moments. You can’t do that if only one person remembers.

But that is a problem easily fixed thankfully.

His original memories gave her a lot to ponder over though. And made it much easier to understand her new Pietro and what made him tick. His childhood and adult years had been so different from hers.

What would it have been like though? she thought half-heartedly. To grow up with Pietro in his world? To only have a mother and to spend her childhood years in an American life suburban home like she’s doing now. Only Pietro’s life hadn’t been as perfect as hers finally is. For while she’s now living an American dream life, Pietro has had to face discrimantion his whole life due to being from East Europe and for being born with powers.

The pain of that, for being treated as less than, just because you were different from others, she does understand. She spent years being blamed or judged for things that she could not control (whereas some of the things she absolutely should have been blamed for she never was. Part of her was still selfishly glad that the arrival of Thanos had distracted Dr Banner enough that seeing her before the battle in Wakanda didn’t really register much to him. And after she was brought back she had done everything in her power to avoid him. He may only have one arm now but he probably still had all of the Hulk’s strength. Not that she had particularly wanted to find out.).

Not only that but there was a word for people with powers where Pietro came from. Mutants. But when she thought of the word however, all she could think about was those silly teenage mutant turtle cartoons she had watched as a child. Not that the term would have fit her and Pietro here. They weren’t born with their gifts, they had endured the pain of the Mind Stone to prove their worth and were rewarded with them as a result ( _you wanted to do evil things with those gifts_ ). They weren’t mutants, what was the term for them here? Maybe it was enhanced, she couldn’t remember.

Would it have been less lonely though? To live in a world where she wasn’t the only one with powers? To have incredible powers from birth, to be determined as special by a few strands of DNA and not just by undergoing painful experiments for poorly thought out revenge ( _don’t think about that, don’t think about how wrong you were, your attempt at revenge cost you your brother_ ). 

These X-Men though, these people who Pietro called his team and clearly loved dearly . . . she had to work hard to control her anger and take a few deep breaths to tamp down her bitter feelings of jealousy at the fondness the memories held of them. Pietro loved them, clearly loved them dearly. If they found a way to enter her haven, they’d try to take Pietro away. And he might just go. Because right now she wasn’t sure if their close bond, despite the strange circumstances in which they were reunited, would be enough when up against these people who had fought with him to save their world.

Especially when one of these people is his boyfriend.

That bit does not surprise her in the slightest. Pietro had always been attracted to boys just as much as girls. Maybe even more sometimes. His first kiss after all was with the cute boy who had lived just down the street from their group home when they were thirteen. She had very willingly helped him scope out just what boys were interested in him or was it her they were eyeing. Something they always had to be very careful about. Sokovia, sadly, had never been very accepting of the LGBT community like the Europeans who shared their borders were.

Which was ridiculous. Her countrymen were dying on all sides from a needless civil war, yet people are willing to harm others just because of who they love? She had never understood that.

Not that she had cared who Pietro loved. He was all that she had, she wasn’t going to shame him for who he chose to kiss. Unless they didn’t deserve him. Then she would. Quite gladly.

And this Alex person, there was no way that he was good enough for her brother.

Mind made up, she turned her head towards her sleeping brother, peacefully sleeping, unaware of her presence. She rested a hand softly on his cheek. He shifted a bit, but didn’t wake.

“You’re not leaving me Pietro. They don’t deserve you, this Alex doesn’t deserve you. Don’t worry though, I won’t let them take you.”

And that was a promise that she was determined to keep.

X

There was one of Pietro’s old memories that she couldn’t help but keep going back to and reflecting over. Or well, one specific chunk of memories.

Pietro had two sisters in his world. One was his twin (her, she supposed, although apparently she was called Wendy there. Give her Wanda any day.) and a little sister who was about ten years his junior. 

That was a rather alien concept to her. To have a little sister. She had never wanted one growing up; she had Pietro and Pietro was enough. Not only that, but she liked being Mama and Papa’s only little girl. Other her though, hadn't seemed bothered much to be a sister. Not to Pietro (her own twin), or to this little sister and so it seems to have fallen to Pietro to be the perfect older sibling to this little girl. He had been the one to play dress up games with her, being the dragon or knight in shining armour for her princess. He had complimented her on her drawings and taught her things about the way the world worked and tried to be a role model for her.

Not a good one it seems. But he had been there for her. Which was more than what she could say for the other version of her.

Would she have been like that to a little sister? To be dismissive, to never give her the time of day and shut her out; or maybe she would have followed Pietro's lead and be involved in her life as a big sister?

She'll never know.

Well she’ll get it for her boys though. She'll give them the opportunity to be big brothers. Maybe it was time to expand her family again? A little girl, just like the one in Pietro’s original memories? One like the girl in those memories she had buried deep, deep, down in her brother's mind. A little princess?

She could almost see it, a perfect daughter and for a moment she was tempted to create her little girl then and there in her bedroom, but she held back for the moment.

Pietro was still sleeping on the couch after all, she couldn’t expand her family when a member still didn’t even have a room of their own yet.

And while she sorted that out she could plan for the perfect baby names.

Nina perhaps? Or maybe Anya? What about Lorna?

No, not suitable. And besides she didn’t want to run the risk of ruining all the work that she had done on fixing Pietro’s memories. Having a name too similar to those memories would result in her constantly running the risk of undoing all of her work. 

At least she knew what names to avoid now.

X

The house had been quiet when she had been tidying up the boys rooms, but once she had stepped out into the hallway she thought that she could hear some faint singing.

The tune sounded familiar, she noted as she made her way down the hall and towards the stairs. And the voice was Pietro’s. There was nobody else in the house; Vision was at work and the boys over at Agnes and she had turned the radio off before she had gone upstairs. It had to be Pietro.

She was right. Her brother was moving around all over the downstairs that she could see, doing one thing before quickly getting bored and moving onto something else; all the while humming a very familiar song.

_‘‘Sweet dreams are made of these, who am I to disagree, I travel the world and the seven-’’_

“I love that song” Wanda heard herself speaking softly, snapping Pietro out of his thoughts and had him turning to face her with his signature grin.

“Great song isn’t it?” he grinned, while she felt her own smile grow to match.

“It is” she agreed happily.

_She had heard the song not long after she had come to America, following their defeat of Ultron. She had spent her first days in the States in a grief-filled haze, unable to process much of what was going on around her or pay much attention. Pietro was dead, her country was destroyed and she was lost. That was all she could focus on back then._

_Then two weeks later she had been watching Stark as he walked down the hallway, he hadn’t known she was there at the time so he was clearly more relaxed then if he had known she was watching. Their relationship, while never friendly, at best stretching to professional, had been nothing but cold during the post-Ultron days. While he seemed to be unaware of her actions at the Sokovian Hydra base, he, unlike the rest of the Avengers, had not been willing to brush what she had done to Dr Banner under the rug. But, he still had given her everything he had about any SI weapon dealings to Sokovia only a few days later. Only for her to discover the nasty shock of Tony Stark having no responsibility for those bombs that had dropped on her family. The bombs in question apparently had been sold illegally and so the fault laided in the hands of an Obadiah Stane, by then long dead._

_She hadn’t wanted to believe it at first. She refused to believe it. She had cried and raged and screamed but in the end it was Vision and the Colonel Rhodes who had made her see sense. Stane was at fault, not Stark._

_‘You wanted an innocent man killed because you nurtured childhood hate and never used common sense. You got your brother killed for a half-baked revenge plan.’_

_She had never apologised to Stark. For any of it. She had been too ashamed once she had discovered the truth and prior to the Civil War the man had never been around the Compound much for her to dredge up the courage. And after that she had been on the run for two years. And then she was snapped and then he died shortly after she had returned._

_She had gone to his funeral to pay her respects and apologise in a way, but she hadn’t stayed long. Unlike Steve she could use her eyes and she knew what the looks Tony’s wife and close friends were giving them meant. They had no place there._

_So when she had been watching Stark that day in the hallway, she had been trying to force up some courage to approach him and thank him for giving her some answers. Or apologise. For some of it. Any of it. She wasn’t sure exactly but she was trying to force her body to move in some way, until he heard him talking and she stopped to eavesdrop. It took a few moments of time for her to realise that he wasn’t talking, he was singing to himself._

_The tune had grabbed her attention immediately and hadn’t left her mind once in the following days. More than once she had found herself humming what she had heard Stark singing but she hadn’t known the rest of the song, until Sam had recognised it and told her the name of the song._

_It had been her go-to comfort song ever since._

Forcing herself back to the present, she furiously banished all of those thoughts out of her mind. Ultron was behind her. The Civil War and the Snap was behind her. All of those dark times were far behind her. She never wanted to think about them again. She had a life and a family here that needed her complete focus, it wouldn’t benefit her to focus on chapters of her life that were firmly closed.

So instead she smiled and flicked her finger out in the air. Immediately the tune of the song started playing. Loud enough for them to get lost in and dance to, not loud enough that it’d drown everything out and hurt their ears. 

_‘Sweet dreams are made of these, who am I to disagree, I travel the world and the seven seas, everybody’s looking for something.’_

She barely got a moment’s warning before Pietro was speeding over to her and spinning her around in the air. Her shrieks of laughter mingled with the songs tune before they were dancing to it in her living room, wild and carefree and not giving a damn as to who else saw them.

Life was for living after all.

X

New strangers are here again.

Not welcome ones either.

At first she thought that they were sent from the same group of people who had sent Geraldine here. Those people who she had tried to drive away peacefully before accepting defeat and expanding the boundaries of her town to include them and prevent further interference a few weeks back. Had she missed some when doing so? Had there been more of them nearby, yet away from the main camp and they were sent to find out just what had happened to their missing comadres?

Cautiously she watched from a tiny crack in the curtains of her bedroom window. So far they seemed to be unaware they were being watched as they walked down the road toward her home, talking to one another and observing their surroundings like they had never seen the place before.

It was just two people - but what if there were others? A man and a woman, both blondes, both looked perfectly ordinary, the kind of perfect newly-wed couple that she could have imagined moving into her town and creating some minor drama if it wasn’t for the jumpsuits that they were wearing. Blue and yellow - truly hideous, with some kind of emblem on the belt, that she strained to get a better look at until they finally moved up closer to the house, still unaware that they were being watched. It looked almost like an ‘X’. Not only that, but the man had some weird contraption on his chest, but she knew that even with a closer look at it she would never even be able to guess what it might be needed for.

Same group as Gerladine’s or different group?

It didn’t matter in the end, she thought furiously as she turned away from the window and silently left the bedroom as not to alert Vision to the fact that she was awake. They were not welcome. She’ll find out who they were and what they wanted before kicking them out.

Something about them seemed familiar though, she pondered as she made her way down the stairs and towards the front door. She had almost felt like she had seen them somewhere before but she just couldn’t put her finger on where.

Hydra maybe?

Someone from SHIELD?

You would think that they'd have better sense and leave her and her family in peace.

When will people learn?

Furious she opened the door and stalked out toward the middle of the street towards the strangers, who had already walked past her house and therefore had their backs to her.

She made her footsteps silent as she approached from behind.

“You know, if I didn’t know what was going on, then I’d say that this is a pretty nice place to live” the man said approvingly as he scrutinized the houses opposite her, still unaware of her presence. If he was an agent, he wasn’t a very good one.

“It’s more like a horror film to me. A nice pretty exterior to blind you to the evil monster controlling the place” the woman sniffed haughtily, and Wanda felt a flash of red-hot rage burn through her as a result.

How dare she!

She was not a monster!

This woman was the one who intruded in on her safe haven clearly trying to destroy the perfect world she had built for herself.

Out of the corner of her eyes she saw the smallest hints of red start to curl at her fingertips, her power ready to use, to defend, to control, to hurt.

“Who are you and what do you want?” she demanded, watching through narrowed eyes as the strangers jumped in surprise before turning quickly around. For a moment her mind blanked out in pure horror as the woman’s appearance changed as she turned around. She wasn’t a blonde haired, fair-skinned beauty anymore. Her skin was a strange shade of blue and almost scaly, her hair an odd shade of red, almost orange that contrasted very oddly with her skin. 

Was she an alien?

How did she get here?

Her change in appearance though, dredged up some more recognition about where they might be from, but she still couldn’t quite place her finger on where and how much to her frustration. It wasn’t until the man stepped forward, pure rage burning in his eyes and she got a better look at the strange contraption on the chest of his uniform that it finally hit her.

“Where’s Peter? What have you done to him?”

She had never met these people before now.

But Pietro did.

She had seen them in his memories while she had been busy altering it to fit more like hers. They had been a part of the team that he was on. The man was his boyfriend.

Alex. That was his name. And the woman was Raven, a shapeshifter, a close friend.

No, no, no, they couldn’t be here. They’ll take him, take Pietro away from her when she had only just got him back. They’ll rip her soul in half once again and the wound that she had been dealing with since Ultron would once again become wide and gaping and painful.

And who's to say that they’ll stop at her brother? What if they take her children? Her husband? What if they undo all she’s done, take away the home she’s worked so hard to build, her place of safety? They’ll take everything if she gives them the chance.

No, they wouldn’t get the chance. She wouldn’t let Gerladine and those she worked for take it and she won’t let them.

“Pietro is safe” she answered in a tone of voice that would have all those who know her or just anyone with pure common sense know that they were in danger. “You two on the other hand are _not_. You are not welcome here.”

They’ve long since overstayed their welcome. It was time for her to show them the door.

As her power grew around her hands she saw the boy, Alex step forward a light starting to appear in his hand as he lifted it up to face her and she was immediately reminded as to what his mutation was.

Well, that just won’t do.

Flicking a hand idly, as if she was swatting a fly, she was immediately rewarded by the comforting red sparks of her powers flickering out and she allowed a smug smile to settle on her face as the light in Alex’s hand disappeared as if it was never there to begin with.

This was her world, she made the rules. And she had no intention of giving them any kind of advantage.

“What the-?” Alex said in horror, staring down at his now non-glowing hand, just as she sent a wave of red towards them. He didn’t notice, still too busy wondering what exactly must have happened to his power and Raven wasn’t able to dodge the wave in time. They were powerless against the binding of her powers, unable to move or be any form of a threat really. 

They were no match for her. Smugly she walked closer to them, watching in amusement as they desperately tried to get themselves free and basking in their looks of hate. She may have had to smother a giggle, they just looked so weak and helpless.

“You are not welcome here” she repeated, just in case they hadn’t fully heard her the first time. It wouldn’t hurt to reinforce the message though. “You have no place in this town and if I find you or anyone like you here again, I won’t be as nice and the consequences won’t be pleasant. For you.”

“We’re not leaving without Peter,” Raven said, trying to act superior. A poor show really.

“Yes you are.”

A few brief moments later after she had checked their memories to see if there were any other intruders that she had to be aware of and root out and then she was hurling them out of her town and away from her life.

They better take the hint. She didn't want to hurt people but to protect the life she's built, it may be her only option.

No one had woken up and come out to see what the commotion was. Not even Agnes who at times Wanda could almost swear was like a robot, up all hours of the night and then bright eyed and bushy tailed the next day at ungodly hours of the morning. No one was watching from their windows or doors, no eyes peeking through a gap in the curtains. It was just her standing in her deserted quiet street, her only company being the chirping of birds in the trees.

She needed to get back inside. If Vision woke up and saw her standing outside in the middle of the street for no apparent reason then he’d have questions. Questions she wouldn’t want to answer. They’re back to normal now, but she doesn’t want a repeat of what had happened during Halloween or just before Pietro arrived. She needed to act normal.

She allowed herself one more moment of silence before she turned and headed back into her home. The house was still silent as she let herself back in. She couldn’t hear Vision making himself some tea in the kitchen or the boys messing around upstairs. They were all still asleep.

And she was exhausted.

Her bed was so far away and she just couldn't summon the energy to walk upstairs or maybe even levitate herself up. Too much work. But her couch was so warm and comforting and empty since they moved Pietro down to the basement and she barely managed to drag herself over to it before she was collapsing face first into the soft fabric. The darkness had barely surrounded her when she felt a breeze of air ruffling her hair and her head was suddenly resting on someone’s lap.

“Hey sis.”

Pietro.

“I thought the toaster was supposed to be the one sleeping on the couch when couples have an argument.”

“Five more minutes Pietro please” she begged, stubbornly ignoring his chuckle. “I have children, I can’t remember the last time I slept in, come on.”

“So, you’re saying you want me to teach your boys how to play songs with air horns this morning?” came the asshole’s response as he stroked his fingers through her hair. It was very relaxing actually.

“If you let me have an hours extra sleep you can go nuts” she mumbled, surrendering to the softness of her brother’s lap and the soothing repetition of her hair being stroked, as the last sounds she heard was of her brother’s chuckling.

When she woke up later she felt both well rested and exhausted, her head still in Pietro’s lap while he made an ‘attempt’ at the morning crossword puzzle. Vision wouldn’t be happy about that, she’d have to get a new one. A quick glance at the time showed that it was almost time that Vision and the boys would be waking up at.

“You still have forty minutes left on that extra hour sleep you wanted,'' Pietro said casually as she pushed herself up into a sitting position beside him.

“Kids will be waking up soon. Have to get started on breakfast” she muttered, unable to stop herself from twisting around and looking out the window in fear that those people came back while she was sleeping and intruded in on her haven again. They wanted Pietro, they might not stop until they got him, she needed to be ready for when they’d come back.

She knew they would.

It was a fact of life for her.

Someone was always trying to take what she loved away from her.

“I can make breakfast for you if you want” Pietro offered, forcing her attention back to him and her memory of kitchen mishaps in sitcoms.

“And will I be waking up to a burning kitchen or a mound of junk food as some form of breakfast if I do?” she challenged while Pietro smirked at her. It was the same smirk that she remembered from her childhood.

“I’ll have you know that twinkies are a wonderfully nutritious food that fulfill all of the necessary food groups” he asserted confidently before bopping her on the nose.

“No they’re not” Wanda laughed, while Pietro faked outrage.

“Heathen!” he declared while she failed to stifle the laugh on time. For a moment she wasn’t in her American living room, with her brother who wasn’t her brother but also was. Right then she was in Sokovia in her teenage years and her early twenties, arguing with Pietro over what was an appropriate breakfast. If it hadn’t been for her then her brother would never have willingly eaten a fruit or vegetable that wasn’t some processed junk food in his life.

“I can make pancakes” she offered, Pietro lighting up like a puppy at the suggestion. “But” she warned, “you have to promise to eat some fruit with them. Because if you don’t then the boys will think that they don’t have to either and then getting them to have any fruit during the day or any vegetables for dinner will be a nightmare.”

“Is there going to be any chocolate spread and marshmallows too?” came the counter demand and she snorted with laughter, giving her brother a brief shove and forcing herself up off the couch.

“I’m surprised you still have all your teeth in your head. Yes we have some. But fruit too. Come on, if you help then we can have them ready by the time the boys come down.” Her mind was already wandering to how excited Billy and Tommy would be over pancakes for breakfast. They were a rare treat in this household.

One benefit of having a speedster for a brother: he had everything out and ready for her to make the pancakes in the three seconds that it took for her to walk to the kitchen. Not that she couldn't have gotten everything out with her powers but it was nice to have help. She was already used to Pietro's help around the house, she couldn’t even begin to imagine what it would be like if he wasn’t here anymore.

That was what those people wanted to do. They would take him away from her. Forever.

She couldn't lose him.

"Wanda? You ok sis?" Pietro asked just before she lurched forward and wrapped her arms around her twin in a bone crushing hug and buried her face into the space between his shoulder and head.

"Don't leave" she ordered desperately. "Please don't leave me."

Immediately she felt a pair of arms wind themselves around her and squeeze tightly.

"But where would I go sis?" She felt Pietro murmur against her hair. "You're here."

Breathing deeply, she allowed herself the moment to put her fears aside. Pietro's here, he won't leave, those people won't take him, she won't let them.

"The pancakes are here too."

That set her off.

It started with sniggering that turned into giggling. That then evolved into laughing, then into crying while laughing as she desperately tried to calm down while wiping the tears from her face.

The pounding of feet down the hallway upstairs alerted her to the boys coming and she quickly tried to compose herself while unknown to her, an evil look must have come across Pietro's face.

The worst thing about having a speedster for a brother: you never see them coming.

And they know your ticklish spots.

Which was what the boys had come down too thirty seconds later: her on the floor shrieking and kicking out wildly, his fingers attacking all of her ticklish spots, quickly dodging her attempts to save herself.

"BOYS! Boys help me!" She cried desperately, kicking out in what she hoped would land on her twin, but he moved around to the other side successfully avoiding her attempt.

Hearing the pounding of feet come closer she felt a brief silver of hope that her torture was about to be finished when two more pair of hands joined in tormenting her.

She couldn't even kick out now without risking hurting the kids. She was trapped.

"VISION! Vision save me please!"

X

The stars were bright and clear that night. They always were here but especially tonight.

The roof on the other hand was not a comfortable place to be lying on for prolonged periods of time. She really should have brought a blanket or a pillow up here or something.

She always used to go star-gazing as a little girl. Her and Pietro would look out their apartment window as children and try to guess which stars were part of what constellations from old star-gazing books. They were a bit worn and torn, but they still had all of their pages intact and even as children they made fair stabs at attempting to figure it out. 

As they got older and lived in orphanages and on the streets, star-gazing was one of the few things that they could go and do that was nearly always available at night. Books about stars were hard to find but they made good attempts and actually got a fair number right.

After Ultron . . . it was just too painful for a long while. She couldn’t bear to look at the stars without the loss of Pietro ripping her heart and soul apart. Over time it got more bearable, she could gaze up and make wishes she was certain would never come true, but in all, until she got to Westview, the stars were just a painful reminder of all she had lost.

Now though, all she wanted was to be lost in their comforting presence was a little bit. So after dinner, when everyone else in her family had been occupied, she had grabbed the ladder and climbed up onto the roof as she had thought it would have been more comfortable to do it that way rather then leaning awkwardly out of a window.

And it had been at first, but she really should have brought out a blanket or pillow.

Finally she admitted defeat and forced herself up into a sitting position to stretch her muscles out when a rush of air alerted her to the fact that she wasn’t alone anymore.

“Why did you get a ladder for? Couldn’t you just use your powers to levitate yourself up?”

“Didn’t feel like it” she shrugged, before the idea hit her, “could you run and grab me a blanket?”

Pietro scoffed, “get it yourself, you have your powers.”

“But you’re quicker” she prodded. Maybe. She had yet to time them, to see what was faster: her brother’s speed or her powers. But she just couldn’t be bothered to use her own powers right now.

From the look on Pietro’s face he knew that she was buttering him up but he was gone and back in a gush of the wind and his previously empty hands now were full of a fluffy yellow blanket, that they spread down on the roof and lied down on.

It was silent between them as they looked up at the stars. Not the heavy awkward silence that she had always despised when talking to people, but silence nonetheless.

“Do you remember when we were children looking up at the stars Wanda?”

She couldn’t help but tense at that. She was the one who led the reminiscing between the two of them. She had altered the memories to fit more in with what she deemed most important but she didn’t fix everything. If what came out of his mouth was referencing an event that she couldn’t pretend even in the slightest wasn’t one of her own then . . . Well, she didn’t know what she was going to do exactly but it wouldn’t be good. Pietro continued on with what he was going to say, oblivious to her discomfort.

“We always wanted to see a shooting star so we could make a wish, but we never could, so we -”

“Pretend that airplanes flying at night were shooting stars and made our wishes on them.” she said with him, nostalgia, hope and pain colouring her voice as she fought hard for it not to crack. “I remember.”

It was one of her favourite childhood memories with him, a habit that they had kept even after their parents had died and they learned the hard way that wishes didn’t come true.

Old habits die hard though.

She hadn’t planted the memory in his mind when she had been fixing him, at the time it was too painful to touch so she had chose to leave it be. Or at least she thought she had . . .

Was this her doing? Was her brother becoming more like the brother she remembered the longer he was around her?

She wasn’t sure, when it came to her powers she was never fully sure as to what she could do.

Didn’t matter right now though, this was a perfect moment and she refused to let it be spoiled by thinking about trivial matters like that.

“What would you wish for now if we see one?” Pietro prodded slightly while she gave a helpless shrug in return.

“Don’t know.”

_‘I’d wish that people from the outside would leave me and the rest of us alone.’_

“Everything I could possibly wish for is right here already” she said as casually as she could, keeping her gaze firmly on the stars. They always shone so brightly here, more than they did anywhere else she had gone. “What about you?”

“A indefinite supply of twinkies.” She was unable not to snort at that. Her brother. Always thinking with his stomach.

Her reply was cut off however by the sounds of little hands and feet climbing a ladder that they definitely should _not_ be on. And only a second later, Tommy was poking his head up into their field of vision like a little meerkat she once saw on television.

“Hi mom! Hi Uncle Pietro! What are you two doing?” her mini speedster babbled as he clambered up onto the roof, only moving forward to make enough room for Billy to climb up as well.

“Boys! What are you doing up here? Get away from the ledge or you’ll fall” she scolded. Tommy then speeded over to make himself comfortable in the little gap between her and Pietro, while Billy crawled over to lie down beside her on her other side.

“What’s the problem Mum? You and Uncle Pietro are up here, so why can’t we be?” Tommy drawled, before stretching out like a little cat and resting his head on Pietro’s bicep.

“Your mum and I are adults little dude” Pietro chuckled, “you two on the other hand are not. And if you’re not old enough to vote, then you shouldn’t be up on the roof.”

“Too late now” Tommy shrugged, while Billy snuggled into her in a way that he hadn’t done since he was a baby. It almost reminded her of a cat in a way.

“If any of you think about messing around or doing something stupid while we’re up here, then you’ll be grounded until the day you die” she warned them sternly.

“Are you talking to us or to Uncle Pietro Mum?” Billy spoke up beside her, gaining an offended noise from her brother.

“All three of you” she smiled, not even bothering to hide it even when Pietro, gave her a half-hearted swipe in revenge.

“What are you doing up here anyway?” Tommy asked a trace of boredom seeping in now he knew there was nothing exciting going on up here.

“When your mum and I were your age, we always used to watch the stars at night” Pietro explained, while her heart felt like it was about to jump out of her chest. “We always wanted to see a shooting star to make a wish on it, and when we couldn’t find one we’d pretend that airplanes flying up over us were shooting stars so we could wish on them instead.”

“I’d like to see a shooting star,” Billy said quietly.

“Me too! Do you think that the wishes come true? I want to wish for summer to last forever” Tommy blabbered excitedly from her other side, when she heard Vision calling.

“Wanda? Pietro? Boys? Where are you?”

“We’re up here Vision” she called, and not a second later, she saw him rising up into the air. He didn’t bother to use the ladder.

“What is happening here?” he asked, eyes sweeping over all of them, just lying on a blanket on the roof, looking up at the sky.

“Mum and Uncle Pietro were telling us that when they were our age, they’d go star-gazing to try and find a shooting star” Tommy helpfully chipped in. “Do you wanna join us Dad?”

Vision was silent for a moment and Wanda was genuinely worried that he would refuse, would refuse to join them in such a lovely family moment. But that moment of fear was clearly unneeded, a second later he was already setting foot on the roof’s edge.

“I think I will. Star-gazing is a very relaxing activity to partake in before turning in for the night” he said as he carefully positioned himself on Billy’s other side.

The next few minutes were quiet, just the five of them, gazing up at the stars, before Billy gasped with delight and pointed up at the sky. “Look I saw one! A shooting star!”

“I see one too!” Tommy cheered happily, his eyes full of wonder.

“A meteor shower” Vision muttered from the side while she gave a vague hum of agreement, her attention focused on the beauty of the streaks of white flickering across the sky. Almost too quick to be seen. But not quite.

“Better make a wish” Pietro said, “here’s hoping I get that supply of twinkies.”

_‘And I wish that the next time those people come to try and take my family and world away from me, I’ll be able to stop them. Permanently this time.’_

She finally had everything that she had wanted her whole life. And she wasn’t going to let nothing take it from her.

Nothing.


End file.
